1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of wire tie apparatus and in particular to the field of apparatus for wrapping an object with a wire tie whereby a tight wire wrap is created.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous occasions whereby it is desirous to wrap two portions of a generally circular object such as a bone which may be fractured on an oblique angle to the longitudinal center line of the bone. Or, to safety wire together the heads of a number of bolts whereby the bolts cannot be loosened by, for example, vibrations. Or, to fasten a rubber sleeve to a pipe such as are generally encountered situations where a hose clamp is utilized. Or, to join soft tissue such as to close a wound. Or, to merely hold together two separate pieces of any shape by a wire tie for temporary or permanent repairs such as in dentistry, automobile, or even househould repairs. This later use may, for example, comprise such situations where a broken Vee belt may be joined together at the broken ends or to substitute for a broken hanger clamp or to wire wrap a bundle of tubular members or pipes. Accordingly, there are a vast number of instances whereby it is desired to use a wire to tightly wrap one or more objects together.
In the past, a number of different apparatus have been used to attempt to create such wire wrapping. In one prior art application, the wire may be simple wrapped around the objects and hand twisted about itself at the loose ends. A slightly improved prior art method utilizes a pair of common pliers to twist the loose ends. Another prior art apparatus comprises a specially designed pair of pliers whereby the jaws may be clamped onto the loose ends of the wire which are then rotated by pulling an elongated screw member which causes racheting rotation of the jaws. Such prior art devices all suffer from numerous problems, one of which is the ability to create a tight wrap of the wire. The mechanical prior art devices can create a tight wire wrap, but only in or with respect to those applications for which the apparatus is particularly designed to work with. Such devices, however, tend to be large and bulky which preclude use in those instances where space is limited. There is, however, no prior art device which can be satisfactorily used in a large variety of applications and with a large variety of objects and things to be joined.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide wire tie apparatus which will produce a tight wire wrap in virtually all applications where such wire wrapping is desirous.
Another object of the present invention is to provide wire tie apparatus which is relatively small, easy to use, and inexpensive to manufacture.
Another object of the present invention is to provide wire tie apparatus which is adaptable to automatic machine operations.
The above-stated objects as well other objects which although not specifically stated, but are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention, are accomplished by the present invention.